AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES A country-by-country analysis of why and how governments encourage Autogas and what works 2020 UPDATE AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES A country-by-country analysis of why and how governments encourage Autogas and what works 2020 UPDATE The World LPG Association (WLPGA) The WLPGA was established in 1987 in Dublin and unites the broad interests of the vast worldwide LPG industry in one organisation. It was granted Category II Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 1989. The WLPGA promotes the use of LPG to foster a safer, cleaner, healthier and more prosperous world. Liquid Gas Europe Liquid Gas Europe is the sole representative of the LPG industry at the European level, representing national LPG associations as well as distributors and equipment manufacturers from across Europe. Its mission is to engage with EU decision-makers and the wider policy community in order to optimise the contribution that LPG (and bioLPG) – as a cleaner and immediately available energy source – can make to meeting Europe's energy and environmental challenges. Acknowledgements This report was prepared by Mr. Trevor Morgan of Menecon Consulting. Ms. Filipa Rio, Sustainable Mobility Director at WLPGA and Liquid Gas Europe, was responsible for co-ordinating the project. Acknowledgement also goes out to the many representatives of the LPG industry in the countries surveyed in the report, who provided invaluable assistance. Argus Media provided the detailed Autogas demand, vehicle fleet and retail site data by country which was extracted from the 2020 edition of the Statistical Review of Global LPG. WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 2 Copyright © 2020 World LPG Association (WLPGA) and Liquid Gas Europe. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. All information in this report is verified to the best of the authors’ and publishers’ ability. They do not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained in the report and accept no responsibility for any consequence of their use. WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 3 AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES Contents Contents Contents 4 Glossary 7 Executive summary 8 Introduction 12 Objectives of the study 12 Approach and scope 12 Structure of this report 13 PART A: MAIN FINDINGS 14 1 The global Autogas market 15 1.1 Market trends 15 1.2 Drivers of Autogas use 18 1.2.1 Alternative automotive fuel policies 18 1.2.2 Environmental benefits of Autogas 19 1.2.3 Practical considerations 21 1.2.4 Cost factors 22 2 Government policies to promote alternative fuels 25 2.1 Principles of alternative-fuel policies 25 2.2 Typology of policies to promote alternative fuels 26 2.2.1 Financial incentives 26 2.2.2 Regulatory policies and measures 27 2.2.3 Other measures 28 3 International comparison of Autogas incentive policies 29 3.1 Fuel taxation and pricing 29 3.1.1 Comparative taxation of Autogas 29 3.1.2 Comparative pricing of Autogas 31 3.2 Autogas vehicle subsidies 34 3.3 Other incentives 35 4 Effectiveness of Autogas incentive policies 38 4.1 Autogas share of the automotive-fuel market 38 4.2 Comparative competitiveness of Autogas 39 4.3 Impact of Autogas competitiveness on automotive-fuel market penetration 41 4.4 Impact of non-financial incentives 43 5 Lessons for policy makers 45 5.1 The rationale for promoting Autogas 45 5.2 Critical success factors for Autogas market development 46 5.3 Formulating an effective Autogas strategy 47 PART B: COUNTRY SURVEYS 49 1 Australia 50 1.1 Autogas market trends 50 1.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 51 1.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 52 2 Bulgaria 54 2.1 Autogas market trends 54 2.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 55 2.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 55 3 Canada 57 3.1 Autogas market trends 57 3.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 57 3.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 58 WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 4 AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES Contents 4 China 60 4.1 Autogas market trends 60 4.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 60 4.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 62 5 Czech Republic 64 5.1 Autogas market trends 64 5.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 65 5.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 65 6 France 67 6.1 Autogas market trends 67 6.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 68 6.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 70 7 Germany 72 7.1 Autogas market trends 72 7.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 73 7.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 74 8 Greece 76 8.1 Autogas market trends 76 8.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 77 8.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 78 9 India 79 9.1 Autogas market trends 79 9.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 80 9.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 82 10 Italy 84 10.1 Autogas market trends 84 10.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 85 10.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 86 11 Japan 88 11.1 Autogas market trends 88 11.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 89 11.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 90 12 Korea 91 12.1 Autogas market trends 91 12.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 92 12.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 95 13 Lithuania 96 13.1 Autogas market trends 96 13.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 96 13.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 97 14 Mexico 99 14.1 Autogas market trends 99 14.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 100 14.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 101 15 Netherlands 103 15.1 Autogas market trends 103 15.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 104 15.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 105 16 Poland 106 16.1 Autogas market trends 106 16.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 107 16.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 108 17 Portugal 109 17.1 Autogas market trends 109 17.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 109 17.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 110 18 Russia 112 18.1 Autogas market trends 112 18.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 113 WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 5 AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES Contents 18.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 114 19 Serbia 115 19.1 Autogas market trends 115 19.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 116 19.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 116 20 Spain 118 20.1 Autogas market trends 118 20.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 119 20.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 120 21 Thailand 122 21.1 Autogas market trends 122 21.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 123 21.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 124 22 Turkey 126 22.1 Autogas market trends 126 22.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 127 22.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 128 23 Ukraine 130 23.1 Autogas market trends 130 23.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 131 23.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 131 24 United Kingdom 133 24.1 Autogas market trends 133 24.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 134 24.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 136 25 United States 137 25.1 Autogas market trends 137 25.2 Government Autogas incentive policies 138 25.2.1 Fuel-tax differentials 138 25.2.2 Federal clean-fuel incentive and programmes 140 25.2.3 State programmes 141 25.3 Competitiveness of Autogas against other fuels 142 Annex 1: Autogas market data 144 Annex 2: References 145 Annex 3: Note on data sources 146 WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 6 AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES Glossary Glossary AFV Alternative fuel vehicle CNG Compressed natural gas CO2 Carbon dioxide EV Electric vehicle HDV Heavy-duty vehicle LDV Light-duty vehicle LGE Liquid Gas Europe LNG Liquefied natural gas LPG Liquefied petroleum gas NGV Natural gas vehicle NOx Nitrogen oxides OEM Original equipment manufacturer PM Particulate matter SCC Social cost of carbon UNECE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe VAT Value-added tax WLPGA World LPG Association WLPGA/Liquid Gas Europe 7 AUTOGAS INCENTIVE POLICIES Executive summary Executive summary Autogas – LPG used for transport – is the most common unblended alternative vehicle fuel in use in the world today. Global consumption of Autogas has increased steadily over the last two decades, reaching a new high of 27.1 million tonnes in 2019 – an increase of 1% over the previous year. The economic upheaval caused by the Covid-19 crisis is expected to result in a significant fall, albeit most likely a temporary one, in the consumption of Autogas alongside other transport fuels in 2020. The Autogas fleet continues to grow unabated: there are now almost 27.8 million Autogas vehicles in use around the world. Autogas use is still concentrated in a small number of markets: five countries – Turkey, Russia, Korea, Poland and Ukraine – together accounted for just under half of global Autogas consumption in 2019, while the 25 countries surveyed in this report accounted for 81%. The share of Autogas in total automotive-fuel consumption varies widely among those countries, ranging from a mere 0.03% in the United States to well over one-fifth in Ukraine. The enormous disparity in the success of Autogas in competing against the conventional automotive fuels, gasoline and diesel, is explained mainly by differences in government incentive policies. The primary reason why governments in many countries actively encourage the use of Autogas and other alternative fuels is the environment.